Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!willett!ForthNet
From: ForthNet@willett.pgh.pa.us (ForthNet articles from GEnie)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Forth Implementation
Message-ID: <2936.UUL1.3#5129@willett.pgh.pa.us>
Date: 30 Jun 91 20:11:44 GMT
Organization: (n.) to be organized.  But that's not important right now.
Lines: 39

Category 3,  Topic 24
Message 108       Sun Jun 30, 1991
B.RODRIGUEZ2 [Brad]          at 12:02 EDT

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From Mitch Bradley:

> Why reinvent the wheel?  Why not just buy an existing Forth
 > implementation?

One possible reason:  most commercial Forths have restrictive licensing
practices, especially regarding the compiler layer.

Consider the expert system I wrote last year (BTW, available as EXPERT90.ZIP
on GEnie, maybe someone can port it to an FTP site for Andy Dwelly.)  It uses
the Forth compiler to produce a compiled rule base...which means that the end
user MUST have access to the compiler.  Thus, were I to use polyForth (or LMI,
MMS, etc.) for this system, every end user would have to pay a royalty.  My
clients (who sell the software I write) usually won't stand for this.

Incidentally, I agree with your sentiments, Mitch, and I _am_ now using a
commercial Forth (with more reasonable licensing terms). Sorry if I'm
repeating my pet-peeve-of-the-month, but this is a very real problem which
IMHO is obstructing acceptance of Forth.

- Brad
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